Equality Commission for Northern Ireland

Baroness Amos: My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has made the following Ministerial Statement.
	Under Section 73(2) of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, I have appointed four new commissioners to the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland. They are: Anthony Carlin, Una Gillespie, Thomas McGrath and Paul Yam.
	The appointments take effect from 1 August 2004 and last for three years.

Laganside Corporation: Annual Report and Accounts 2003–04

Baroness Amos: My right honourable friend the Minister of State for Northern Ireland has made the following Ministerial Statement.
	The annual report and accounts of the Laganside Corporation (NIA 42/03) for the year ended 31 March 2004 incorporating the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General will be laid before the Northern Ireland Assembly on Wednesday 14 July 2004.
	Copies of the Northern Ireland Assembly paper have been placed in the House of Commons Library at Westminster and in the Northern Ireland Assembly at Stormont.

Director of Fair Access to Higher Education

Baroness Ashton of Upholland: My right honourable friend the Minister for Lifelong Learning, Further and Higher Education has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	I have today placed in the Library of the House copies of the new draft letter of statutory guidance from the Secretary of State to the Director of Fair Access (commonly known as the Office for Fair Access or OFFA).
	On 23 February 2004 the Secretary of State published the draft regulations and guidance on OFFA as the Higher Education Bill made its way to Committee stage in the House of Commons.
	Since that time the Bill has received Royal Assent and some important amendments have been made. Now that the Bill has become an Act and we have advertised for the post of the Director of Fair Access, the Secretary of State has issued a new draft letter of statutory guidance to the new director. New draft regulations were published on 7 July and copies laid in the Library of the House.
	We are determined to ensure that access to higher education is broadened, not narrowed. That is why the new Director of Fair Access will have such an important role. Now that we have advertised for the post of director it is important to remind all those interested of the function, powers and responsibilities. OFFA will be necessary, focused, non-bureaucratic, powerful, independent, open and nothing to do with admissions.
	The new director will be in post by the autumn and this letter suggests how he or she might approach the approval and monitoring of institutions' access agreements. The judgments that the director will exercise in ensuring fair access will have far-reaching consequences. His or her freedom to challenge institutions where necessary will be an important safeguard and public reassurance.
	The new draft letter reflects changes made to the Bill. The key changes are:
	Admissions and academic freedom—The HE Act now makes crystal clear, on the face of the legislation, that OFFA cannot infringe on academic freedom, ensuring OFFA is concentrated single-mindedly on widening access.
	Good practice—A government amendment in both Houses.
	Part-time education and OFFA—A government amendment responded to concern expressed in both Houses about the position of part-time students. It makes plain that while OFFA's prime focus is on the regulation of full-time fees its remit includes safeguarding and promoting access to both full-time and part-time study. The amendment sends a clear signal in primary legislation about the importance that the Government attach to part-time study.
	Reasonableness and sanctions—It is a general principle of law that a body such as OFFA has to act reasonably. This amendment prevents sanctions being imposed if an institution has done all it possibly can to comply with its access agreement. It safeguards institutions from being penalised for problems outside their control. Failure to meet their own milestones is not of itself grounds for any sanction. But where progress is less than expected, OFFA will take into account whether any underlying causes have been identified and addressed by the institution when considering renewal.
	Review—This amendment allows institutions to seek a review of decisions made by OFFA to an independent person or panel. The panel will only be able to ask OFFA to look again at a decision, for instance in the light of new information. This is a sensible position for a new regulator, and ensures a fair deal for institutions as well as students.
	Gap years—Paragraph 4.2 of the letter reminds institutions that they should not charge higher fees to students who took a gap year and deferred their entry from the 2005–06 academic year to 2006–07.
	The key principles set out in the letter of guidance are that OFFA should be well focused, non-bureaucratic and open to views from within the sector.

Draft Animal Welfare Bill

Lord Whitty: My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	I am pleased to announce today the publication of the draft Animal Welfare Bill.
	The draft Bill seeks to consolidate and modernise over 20 pieces of animal welfare legislation relating to farmed and non-farmed animals, some of which date back to 1911. It follows a public consultation held in 2002, and meetings with over 100 welfare organisations, professional veterinary associations and industry groups.
	The Bill introduces into our law a clear definition of cruelty against an animal and provides the courts, the police and government law enforcement agencies with the powers that are needed to deal effectively with people who ill treat or neglect animals in their care. The Bill also extends a duty to promote animal welfare—currently present in farmed animal legislation—to all animal keepers. This will mean that all domestic or captive animals must be cared for in accordance with good animal husbandry practices and the best available scientific knowledge concerning welfare needs. This is a major improvement to current welfare laws which are often based on the view that good welfare is about taking action after an animal has suffered.
	The Bill will also provide powers to introduce secondary legislation and codes of practice to protect the welfare of non-farmed animals kept by man. This enabling power is already available for farmed animals and our aim is to ensure that in future all domestic and captive animals will be protected by legislation that can be easily revised to take account of changing welfare needs and increased scientific knowledge.
	Copies of the draft Animal Welfare Bill are available in the Printed Paper Office and the Libraries of the House.
	Copies are also available on the Stationery Office website at http://www.officialdocuments.co.uk/document/cm62/6252/6252.htm.